The proliferation of devices that communicate within the same bands of frequencies has created scarcity within these bands. Cellular communications devices such as, for example, cell phones, smart phones, and cellular enabled tablets (collectively, user equipment, or “UE”), communicate within several frequency bands designated for 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE communications. At any one time, several hundred or thousand UEs may be connected to a cellular base station, or “cell tower,” with each UE using a different set of at least two frequencies—e.g., at least a separate upload and download frequency for each UE. Some devices may use additional frequencies to further separate voice from data, internet browsing from live streaming, or to aggregate different frequencies to provide higher throughput to the UE.
Due to limitations in transceiver sensitivity and the nature of radio frequency (“RF”) communications, however, these frequency bands can only be divided into a finite number of individual frequencies. In other words, if the disparate uses of frequencies are too close together, then cross-talk and harmful interference can result. This can, at best, lower quality of service (QoS) and, at worst, prevent effective communication altogether. Thus, separating these uses of the RF spectrum by some degree of separation (either in frequency or geographic separation) may is required to prevent the aforementioned interference.
The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, designates the acceptable uses for various frequency ranges in the applicable RF spectrum. The Cellular Radiotelephone (Cellular) Service, designated by the FCC in 1981, for example, operates using the 824-849 MHz and 869-894 MHz spectrum range. Other ranges are designated for military use only, navigation, and amateur radio use, among other things. These ranges, coupled with the limitations of current transceiver technology, create a severe shortage of usable frequencies for the purposes of cellular voice and data communications.
The FCC initially designated the 470-698 MHz portion of the RF spectrum for Ultra High Frequency (“UHF”) television service. Television broadcasters hold television licenses composed of 6 MHz of spectrum, which is used for broadcasting television service to consumer television sets. In 2012 Congress instructed the FCC to hold a first of its kind “incentive auction” where television broadcasters could surrender their licenses to the FCC in return for compensation in order to provide more spectrum for mobile broadband services through a repacking process.